1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic component housing package for housing therein an electronic component, and an electronic apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In keeping with speeding-up and an increase in size in regard to information processing, diligent efforts have been expended to make improvements to electronic apparatuses for use in information processing systems so that a larger amount of electric power can be handled at higher frequencies. For example, active semiconductor elements such as a schottky-barrier type field-effect transistor formed of a gallium (Ga) arsenic (As) semiconductor element and the like have been developed and undergone new improvements in handling a larger amount of electric power in high-frequency regions, for the replacement of conventional semiconductor elements made of silicon(Si).
Shown in FIG. 10 is an example of an electronic component housing package (hereafter, referred also to simply as “package”) of conventional design for housing therein a semiconductor element that handles a large amount of electric power at high frequencies. FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional electronic component housing package and electronic apparatus. In the figure, reference numeral 21 represents a base body; 22 represents a frame body; and 23 represents an input/output terminal.
The package shown in FIG. 10 is mainly composed of the rectangular-shaped platy base body 21; the frame body 22 arranged on the base body 21; and the input/output terminal 23 arranged on the base body 21 and fixed to the frame body 22.
For example, the base body 21 is made of a material which exhibits excellent thermal conductivity, such as a copper (Cu)-Tungsten (W) metal. The base body 21 acts as an earth electrode and also as a heat-dissipating plate for an electronic component 25. The frame body 22 is made of a metal such as an iron (Fe)-nickel (Ni)-cobalt (Co) alloy having a rectangular planar configuration. The frame body 22 is fixed to the top surface of the base body 21 with use of a brazing filler material such as silver (Ag) brazing filler. The frame body 22 is smaller in length than the base body 21 but is substantially equal in width to the base body 21. Moreover, the frame body 22 has, on its one longitudinal side surface, a notch 22a formed so as to extend widthwise across the opposed side surfaces thereof.
The frame body 22 constitutes, together with the base body 21, a cavity for accommodating the electronic component 25 inside. The input/output terminal 23 is mainly composed of a plate portion 23b having a rectangular planar configuration; line conductors 23a formed on the plate portion 23b; and an upright wall portion 23c disposed uprightly on the plate portion 23b. The plate portion 23b is made of an insulating material such as ceramics. The line conductor 23a is made of, for example, a high-melting-point metal such as W, molybdenum (Mo), or manganese (Mn). As shown in FIG. 10, the upright wall portion 23c is arranged on the midportion of the plate portion 23b perpendicularly with respect to the line conductor 23a, with its both ends bent to extend in parallel with the line conductor 23a. The upright wall portion 23c, which is made of an insulating material alike to that used for the plate portion 23b, is formed integrally with the plate portion 23b. 
As shown in FIG. 10, the input/output terminal 23 is, at its plate portion 23b, fixed onto the base body 21, with the upright wall portion 23c fitted into the notch 22a of the frame body 22. In this way, the notch 22a is air-tightly sealed. Note that the input/output terminal 23 is brazed to the base body 21 and also to the notch 22a through a metallized layer (not shown) formed on the bottom surface thereof.
Then, an electronic component 25 such as a field-effect transistor is placed in the electronic component housing package as follows. As shown in FIG. 10, the electronic component 25 is fixed to a placement portion 21a formed on the base body 21 with use of a brazing filler material. Next, an electrode of the electronic component 25 is connected to the line conductor 23a included in the input/output terminal 23 by electrical connecting means 26 such as a bonding wire. After that, a lid body 24 is joined onto the frame body 22 by brazing, seam welding, or the like method, thereby air-tightly sealing the package. Thereupon, an electronic apparatus is realized.
In the electronic component housing package and the electronic apparatus such as described hereinabove, since the input/output terminal 23 does not jut out from the frame body 22, it has been possible to achieve miniaturization.
As a related art, there is Japanese Patent Publication JP-B2 2854460.
However, the conventional construction as shown in FIG. 10 poses the following problems. At the time of brazing the input/output terminal 23 to the base body 21 as well as the frame body 22, the brazing filler material tends to flow out of the joint portion and remain at each exposed end-face of the input/output terminal 23. In this case, after fixing the input/output terminal 23 to the base body 21 and also to the frame body 22 by brazing, a stress may be produced due to the difference in thermal expansion between a large-volume clot of the brazing filler material and the input/output terminal 23. If the input/output terminal 23 is seriously subjected to the stress, damage will result such as a crack. Owing to the damage occurring in the input/output terminal 23, the package cannot be hermetically insulated from the exterior thereof, or the line conductor 23a formed on the input/output terminal 23 will suffer from a break. As a result, the electronic component 25 housed within the package cannot be operated properly.
Moreover, the package has recently come to have, as the electronic component 25 to be housed therein, a component which is operated with high-frequency signals. Accompanying this trend, excellent high-frequency signal transmission characteristics have been sought after in the line conductor 23a. However, in the input/output terminal 23 employed in the conventional construction thus far described, the ground potential with respect to the line conductor 23a is insufficient. Thus, when a high-frequency signal is transmitted to the line conductor 23a, electrical transmission loss such as return loss and insertion loss is caused, whereby making it impossible to transmit the high-frequency signal with high efficiency.